Keeper



Aug. 6, 1935. H L JQHNSQN 2,010,395

KEEPER Filed July 2, 1932 66 07 7 ZZZ 7 1L711]. IN VEN TOR.

74 m, Q1 777 1 7E15- ATTORNEYS.

Patented Au. 6, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE '5 Claims.

The present invention relates to keepers for locks and latches and has to do particularly with a keeper designed to prevent the unauthorized opening of. doors and the like and whether the door opens inwardly or outwardly.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide means'whereby jimmying of the door is prevented; that is the keeper is so constructed that even though the edge of the door next to the jamb may be pried away therefrom so as to withdraw the bolt or latch from the recess in which the same is ordinarily arranged in the keeper, the door, nevertheless, cannot be opened due to the provision of auxiliary means which always rei main in contact with one side of the lock or latch bolt and prevents movement of the door in the direction in which the door must move to be opened.

Another object of this invention is to prevent rattling of the door due to a loosely fitting door or to shrinkage in the door and jamb. Also where shrinkage and warpage occur. the alignment of thelatch bolt and keeper is disturbed and the lock bolt or latch bolt wont enter the keeper properly. This invention provides means whereby even if this condition results, the lock bolt or latch bolt will catch properly on the keeper and hold the door closed.

Another object of this invention is to provide a keeper which can be produced economically and can be substituted or added to the ordinary common keeper by unskilled persons and without the use of special tools or without material modification of the existing structure of the door jamb to which the keeper is attached.

Another object of this invention is to provide a keeper which can be applied to either right hand or left hand doors and to doors which have eithera mortise or exposed lock.

Other objects of this invention will appear hereinafter as the description thereof proceeds, the novel combinations and arrangements being clearly set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 represents a cross-section along theiline l-l of Fig. 4. I 1

Fig. 2 represents across section on the line 22 of Fig. 5. 1

.Fig. 3 represents a cross-section on the line 33 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through the lock and latch bolt on a door showing the keeper in elevation and in the position which .it occupies when an attempt is made to jimmy the door.

Fig. 5 shows the normal position of the keeper shown in Figs. 1 and 4, and is an elevational view similar to 4 looking in the direction 55 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a View looking in the direction 6-5 of Fig. 3 showing an elevation of a modified form of my invention.

Fig. 7 showsmy invention as applied to an exposed lock; a

' Fig. 8 is' a cross-section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 12 showing a form. of my invention adapted to be used with doors which swing outwardly; this View showing the parts in the position which they would occupy if an attempt were made to jimmy the door; V

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 showing the keeper in the position which it occupies when the door is opened;

Fig. 10 is a detail View of the auxiliary keeper shown in Figs. 8, 9, and 12;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the auxiliary keeper shown in Figs. 3 and 6; and- Fig. 12 is a view looking in the direction l2|2 in Fig. 8, showing in elevation the keeper for doors which swing outwardly.

I shall first describe the form of keeper shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 5. In the drawing, [5 indicates a door jamb and IS a door provided with a lock bolt I! and a latch belt 18 of a well known construction. The door trim is indicated at 19. i

The door jamb is inortised at 20 and 2| in the usual manner to receive the latch bolt l8 and lock bolt I! respectively. The keeper has the ordinary keeper plate 22 provided with openings 24 and 23 arranged in alignment with the mortises -20 and 2!. This part of the keeper operates in the usual manner.

The plate 22 has an extension 25 provided with rolled ears 25 for the reception of a pintle 21.

.The pintle also acts as a pivot for what I shall refer to as an auxiliary keeper 28 which has a portion ther of formed into a sleeve or bearing portion 29 and a bolt engaging portion 39 in the form of a flat plate extending outwardly from the bearing portion 29. A spring 3| is coiled about the pintle 21 and has one end 32 thereof engaging the extension 25 and the other end 33 thereof abutting against the side of the bolt engaging portion 30. This spring normally tends to throw the auxiliary keeper 28 into a position indicated in Figs. 1 or 4, but ordinarily this is prevented due to the fact that the edge of the door is close to the jarnb and holds the auxiliary keeper against the action of the spring in the position indicated in Figs. 2 and 5. A stop lug 34 formed as an extension of the auxiliary keeper 28 is adapted to limit the outward movement of the auxiliary keeper 23 under the influence of the spring as is clear from an inspection of Fig. 1.

The result of this arrangement is that if the door is in its normal closed position as indicated in Fig. 2, and an attempt is made to jimmy the door by forcing the door into the position shown in Fig. 1, the auxiliary keeper 28 moves outwardly under the action of the spring 35 and serves as an abutment to prevent the door from being opened even though the latch bolt and lock bolt are both removed from the mortises 2t and 25 and the openings 24 and 23 in the plate 22. The plate 22 is secured to the jamb by screws 35 in the usual manner.

When the door is open, the auxiliary keeper 28 occupies the position indicated in Fig. 1, and when the door is moved to a closed position, the latch bolt strikes against the auxiliary keeper 28 and moves it to its compacted position shown in Figs. 2 and 5.

In Fig. 3, I have illustrated a simple form of auxiliary strike plate which is adapted to be used with the ordinary type of keeper attached by the screws to the jamb 38 and provided with openings 39 and ill. The auxiliary keeper Q! is made of flat metal and is shaped in crosssection in the manner illustrated best in Fig. 3; that is, it has a flat portion d2 adapted to be arranged within a recessed portion between the keeper 3 5 and the door jamb, and a lug 43 extends into the mortises in the iamb 33 so as to prevent movement of the auxiliary keeper in a direction to the right as viewed in Fig. 3. The auxiliary keeper is formed of spring metal and is looped at A l and continues as a fiat plate, which flat plate li? is adapted to be struck by the latch inthe same manner as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 4, and5, and operates in the same manner as do the forms of the invention previously described. This auxiliary keeper, however, is a very simple form, is easily constructed, and is very efficient in'operation besides presenting a very neat appearance. The auxiliary keeper as best illustrated in Fig. 11 is cut away at 46 so as to make it unnecessary to cut away as much of the door jamb as might otherwise be necessary if this portion were not cut away.

In Fig. '7, I have illustrated an exposed lock l? such as is sometimes attached'to the inner side of a door illustrated by dotted lines at 48. The lock has the bolt 68 and this is adapted to enter a slot 5c in a plate 5| which is to be attached directly to the jamb 52. The plate 5i may be suitably braced by the braces 53, or arranged in any suitable manner, and attached to the jamb by screws passing through the openings 54. The strike plate indicated at 55 is constructed exactly in the same way as illustrated in 1 and is attached to the pintle 56 extending through the cars 51 on the plate 5!. The operation of this form of the invention is the same as in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive.

It is sometimes desirable to prevent the unauthorized opening of doors which open outwardly, and in such an event, the forms of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to '7 inclusive are not suitable although the principle can be applied to outwardly swinging doors in the manner illustrated in Figs. 8, 9, 1c, and 12.

In these figures, the jamb is illustrated by the reference numeral 58 and door 59. The door has the lock bolt Ed and latch bolt iii, and is provided with the ordinary keeper plate 62. The lock bolt is adapted to enter the mortise 63 and the latch bolt is adapted to enter the mortise t l. Ears 55 are formed on the plate 62 and a keeper t6 pivoted to a pintle 61 which in turn is mounted in the ears 65 and is adapted to be normally held against the plate 62 by the spring 88 in the manner illustrated clearly in Fig. 9. The spring is a flat leaf spring which is attached at one end to a struck out lug it and to the plate 62 at H. The normal action of the spring is to rotate the plate 66 in a clockwise direction. However, when the door is closed, the same strikes against the looped portion 12 of the spring 68 and this action causes the lug it) to move to the right as viewed in Figs. 8 and 9 into the position shown in Fig. 8, and thereby tends to rock the keeper it in a counter-clockwise direction against the action of the spring E8. The plate is provided with apertures '53 and 14 provided for the purpose of receiving the latch bolt ti and lock bolt Gil. When an attempt is made to jimmy the door, the plate 66 moves in a counter-clockwise direction into the position shown in Fig. 8 and since the lock bolt and latch bolt are both still arranged within the openings in the keeper the door cannot be opened even though the bolts are out of the mortises 53 and 6 5. Of course an attempt will probably be made to move the keeper (it? out of the operative position shown in Fig. 8, and in order to prevent this, I provide a longitudinal bar provided with prongs it at the opposite ends thereof which prongs are driven into the door to hold the bar 1'5 along the outside edges of the door in front of the end of the keeper 56 so as to prevent the insertion of a tool in under the keeper. This plate 15 may be secured by means of screws instead of by the prongs l6, and extend sufficiently far along the front edge or the keeper to prevent any part of the front edge of the keeper from being exposed, and also to prevent the person attempting to jimmy the door from inserting a tool from above or below in under the forward edge of the keeper. The same result might be obtained by recessing the edge of the door somewhat to permit the forward edge of the keeper to drop into the recess leaving a portion of the door to act as a guard for preventing unauthorized movement of the keeper.

It will be understood that the spring 58 is relatively strong and it would require a considerable effort to move the keeper even if a tool were inserted thereunder since the door acts on a section of the spring which extends substantially perpendicular between the lug iii and the edge of the door. In other words, it would practically be necessary to deform the keeper plate or spring in order to move the keeper to such a position that the door could be opened.

It is obvious that other modifications can be made by those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains without departing from the spirit of this invention or the scope of the appended claims, and therefore I do not wish to be limited except in the manner hereinafter set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to obtain by Letters Patent is:

1. In an auxiliary keeper for latch bolts, the combination with a spring plate adapted tobe arranged with a portion thereof between the ordinary keeper on a iamb and the jamb and with another portion thereof arranged between the edge of the door and the keeper, the natural yielding of the spring plate urging the second portion toward the edge of the door to maintain that portion in operative position to engage the latch bolt as long as the latch bolt is in extended position beyond the edge of the door whereby unauthorized opening of the door is prevented.

2. An auxiliary keeper for doors and the like comprising a substantially U-shaped member having one of the legs thereof adapted to be arranged between an ordinary fiat keeper plate and the jamb, and the other leg thereof arranged on the opposite side of the keeper plate between the door and the keeper plate, said last mentioned is extending in a position to engage the bolt on a door ordinarily received within the keeper and preventing unauthorized movement of -the door to open position as long as said latch bolt is in extended position beyond the edge of the door and after said latch bolt has been retracted from the opening in the ordinary keeper plate.

3. An auxiliary keeper for doors and the like comprising a substantially U-shaped member having one of the legs thereof adapted to be arranged between an ordinary flat keeper plate and the jamb, and the other leg thereof arranged on the opposite side of the keeper plate between the door and the keeper plate, said last mentioned leg extending in a position to engage the bolt on a door ordinarily received within the keeper and preventing unauthorized movement of the door to open position as long as said latch bolt is in extended position beyond the edge of the door and after said latch bolt has been retracted from the opening in the ordinary keeper plate, said first leg having a laterally projecting lug to prevent lateral sliding movement of said leg in the direction in which the auxiliary keeper would be moved by the latch bolt engaging said second leg during the attempted opening of the door.

4. In an auxiliary keeper for a door latch bolt, the combination with a plate adapted to have a portion thereof arranged between a door keeper on the jamb and the jamb, said plate being urged toward the edge of the door to engage the latch bolt as long as the latch bolt is extended beyond the edge of the door whereby unauthorized opening of the door is prevented.

5. In a keeper, the combination with a keeper plate of the usual type having a bolt receiving recess, one edge of which engages at least one side of a projected bolt on a door when the latter is in closed position and the bolt is projected into said recess to prevent opening of the door, of an auxiliary keeper plate mounted in predetermined relation with respect to said first keeper plate and having a movable portion lying between said first keeper plate and the edge on said door from which the bolt is projected, whereby to permit free opening of the door when the bolt is retracted, means for urging said movable portion outwardly from said first keeper plate a substantial distance when not restrained by said door whereby it follows the movement of the door if the same is moved bodily in the direction of bolt retraction, said movable portion having a bolt engaging abutment for engaging said side of said bolt and lying adjacent said engaging edge of said first keeper plate, whereby upon movement of said bolt and door bodily away from said first keeper plate in the direction of normal bolt retractmg movement, said abutment will prevent opening of said door.

HAROLD L. JOHNSON. 

